Is Rotom Good in Sword & Shield Playthrough?
Rotom spawns in the Wild Area at the Lake of Outrage. Electric/Ghost base form, but the real value is form changes. Rotom-Wash (Water), Rotom-Heat (Fire), and Rotom-Mow (Grass) each bring unique type combos with AbilityLevitate. Rotom-Wash is one of the best defensive Pokemon in any format. Versatile and uniquely positioned.
Rotom trades roughly evenly with Milo's team.
Rotom resists most of Nessa's coverage and hits back hard.
Rotom has the type edge here and should clean up Kabu's team.
Rotom has the type edge here and should clean up Bea's team.
Rotom resists most of Opal's coverage and hits back hard.
Rotom resists most of Gordie's coverage and hits back hard.
Rotom has the type edge here and should clean up Piers's team.
Rotom trades roughly evenly with Raihan's team.
Rotom has the type edge here and should clean up Bede's team.
Leon's team hits Rotom's weaknesses hard.
Catch Rotom on Lake of Outrage (overworld, Lv 55-58). Raining.
Sword & Shield Rotom Locations
Rotom tops out at low spawn rates across 4 locations in endgame routes. The encounters below are sorted by rate so you can see exactly what you're working with.
Best Locations to Catch Rotom in Sword & Shield
Rotom Weakness
Rotom's Electric/Water typing leaves it vulnerable to Grass and Ground. The Electric/Water typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. Levitate grants an additional Ground immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. With 50 HP and balanced defenses, Rotom can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Grass, Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Flying |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Steel |
What is Rotom Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Rotom
 Maractus Grass | C | |
 Abomasnow GrassIce | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Abomasnow builds →Solar Beam 2x95-112%KO Bulldoze 2x33-39% | ||
 Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
 Ferrothorn GrassSteel | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Ferrothorn builds →Power Whip 2x95-112%KO Bulldoze 2x33-39% | ||
 Eldegoss Grass | C | |
Maractus Grass | C | |
Abomasnow GrassIce | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Abomasnow builds →Wood Hammer 2x96-114%KO Bulldoze 2x33-40% | ||
Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
Ferrothorn GrassSteel | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Ferrothorn builds →Power Whip 2x98-116%KO Bulldoze 2x33-40% | ||
Eldegoss Grass | C | |
 Bellossom Grass | C | |
 Roserade GrassPoison | B | |
Ferrothorn GrassSteel | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Ferrothorn builds →Power Whip 2x99-118%KO Bulldoze 2x33-40% | ||
Abomasnow GrassIce | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Abomasnow builds →Wood Hammer 2x98-115%KO Stomping Tantrum 2x41-48% | ||
Eldegoss Grass | C | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Exeggutor builds →Solar Beam 2x125-147%KO Stomping Tantrum 2x42-49% | ||
 Lilligant Grass | C | |
 Leafeon Grass | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Leafeon builds →Solar Blade 2x116-137%KO Dig 2x50-60% | ||
 Appletun GrassDragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Appletun builds →Solar Beam 2x102-121%KO Bulldoze 2x30-36% | ||
Bellossom Grass | C | |
Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Exeggutor builds →Solar Beam 2x125-147%KO Stomping Tantrum 2x42-49% | ||
Lilligant Grass | C | |
Leafeon Grass | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Leafeon builds →Solar Blade 2x116-137%KO Dig 2x50-60% | ||
Appletun GrassDragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Appletun builds →Solar Beam 2x102-121%KO Earthquake 2x50-60% | ||
Bellossom Grass | C | |
Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Exeggutor builds →Solar Beam 2x125-147%KO Stomping Tantrum 2x42-49% | ||
Lilligant Grass | C | |
Leafeon Grass | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Leafeon builds →Solar Blade 2x116-137%KO Dig 2x50-60% | ||
Appletun GrassDragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Appletun builds →Solar Beam 2x102-121%KO Earthquake 2x50-60% | ||
Bellossom Grass | C | |
In Sword & Shield, Rillaboom's U-turn hits Rotom for 48-57%. Landorus's Rock Slide hits Rotom for 34-40%.
 Rillaboom Grass | A | |
Recommended Build AbilityGrassy Surge ItemChoice Band NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Rillaboom builds →Knock Off44-53% U Turn48-57% | ||
 Landorus Ground | B | |
Recommended Build AbilitySheerforce ItemLife Orb NatureNaive Moves
Damage vs Rotom View Landorus builds →Rock Slide34-40% | ||
Rotom Evolutions
What you see is what you get. Rotom sits outside any evolution chain, so focus on the egg moves and no compatible partners from one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Rotom is genderless and can only breed with Ditto. Part of the Indeterminate egg group.
Ditto onlySwSh Rotom Best Moveset
Electric/Ghost typing with AbilityLevitate gives three immunities plus excellent resistances. 95 Sp. Atk at 91 Speed makes the moveset a fast special attacker. E-tier in base form because the stats are modest, but the appliance forms (Heat, Wash, Mow) change typing and reach higher competitive tiers.
Best Build
Rotom best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Screens Setter Moveset
- Thunder Wave
- Hex
- Reflect
- Trick
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The level-up pool is slim, so TMs matter here. Rotom's Ghost and Normal coverage and more all comes from technical machines, built on top of Thunder and Thunderbolt for same-type damage. Uproar and Foul Play are the payoff moves.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This form of Rotom enjoys coming up with water-based pranks. Be careful with it if you don’t want your room flooded.
This Rotom has possessed a washing machine that uses a special motor. It blasts out water to get enemies to back down.
Rotom Sword & Shield Guide
In Sword & Shield, Rotom looks average on paper at 520 BST. But Levitate is why it sees play. Build around that and it pulls its weight. C-Tier attacker on our tier list. Thunder Wave with Stickybarb is the standard set.
Rotom gets Levitate. But Levitate is the one that matters. It's the centerpiece of every viable set. Build around that.
Rotom is a special attacker with base 105 Sp. Atk. Enough bulk to take a hit or two, too. Speed tells the real story. Base 86 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. Fits the attacker role.
In Sword & Shield, run Thunder Wave, Hex, Reflect, and Trick on Rotom. Thunder Wave is the most common pick at 0% usage. Hex provides reliable STAB damage.
Game Availability
Debuting in Diamond & Pearl, Rotom appears in 14 games across 7 generations. A reliable presence in a solid number of games, typically found through wild encounters.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves